Compliment
by starrylambs
Summary: A compliment can go a long way, especially if it's from the right person.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors note: So I know that I have another story which is unfinished, long story short, my other laptop kind of exploded and I lost the next five chapters of it. I will finish it ...eventually, so please bear with me. In the meantime, I decided to attempt a one-shot, just to get back into the swing of things. If you want me to extend this story, please review and say so. Reviews are like crack to me. Anyways, enjoy!**

**XX**

"Berry, wait"

"Wait for what, for you to throw another insult my way? No thanks."

Quinn struggled to keep up, the pile of books in her hands teetering dangerously as she pursued the brunette through the empty hallway.

"Look can you just wait!"

Rachel ignored her and sped up, the exit now in sight. If she could just get to her car, everything would be alright. Nobody would see her break down.

Quinn sensed the urgency in her pace and immediately allowed her books to fall. Abandoning all pretence, she started running down the hall, desperate to catch the brunette. She eventually caught up and grabbed Rachel's arm, spinning her around and trying to catch her breath.

Shrugging her off, the brunette glared at the taller girl and stomped her foot.

"What Quinn? What do you want?"

Quinn took a step back and smoothened her baby doll dress nervously. What was she thinking? She just ran after Rachel freaking Berry.

"Look, in there ...what they said ... I just ..."

"Let me guess, you just came out here to tell me that you agree. That I should just do everybody a favour and quit Glee."

Quinn's eyes widened and she hastened to defend herself.

"No!"

Rachel blinked rapidly and allowed her arms to fall defeated at her side.

"Well then what do you want Quinn? Because I've had just about all I can take today."

Quinn surveyed the broken girl in front of her and sighed, she really wasn't that bad. Santana was such a bitch sometimes, not that the others stood up for her of course nobody did. Not even Mr Schue, who seemed content to listen to everybody throwing insults at Rachel like it was no big deal.

"I don't want you to quit Glee."

Rachel blinked and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Y-you don't?"

_Oh crap, now she thinks I like her._

"Well yeah, I mean how else are we going to win regionals. You may be annoying but you can sing."

Rachel nodded sadly, like she knew there must be some ulterior motive for Quinn to be nice to her.

"Oh. Well I have to go now"

_Smooth Fabray._

The brunette turned on her heel and marched through the doors, trying to hold back the inevitable flood of tears that would soak her pillow tonight as she tried to sleep. Crossing her arms, she kept her head bowed against the world and slowly made her way to her car. Finally reaching it, she fumbled with her keys as tears blurred her vision. She struggled with them for a few more seconds until she felt a warm hand close upon her wrist.

Looking up, she saw Quinn watching her sadly. She tried to speak, but the words were caught in her throat and she choked out a low sob.

Wordlessly, the cheerleader took the keys from her hand and opened the car, pulling her round to the passenger side and carefully depositing her in the seat.

Coming back from around the car, she opened the door and climbed into the driver's seat, starting the ignition. It was only then, that Rachel spoke. Tears silently streaming down her face.

"What are you doing?"

Quinn adjusted the mirror and put on her seatbelt before answering.

"I'm taking you home."

**XXXXX**

They spent the rest of the journey in silence, Rachel's sniffles occasionally breaking the silence. Quinn's eyes never straying from the road.

After what felt like an hour, Quinn pulled up outside Rachel's house and killed the engine. Now unsure of what to do, she handed the keys to Rachel who accepted them wordlessly and crossed her hands in her lap.

Rachel glanced out the window and noticed that her Dads car was missing. She wasn't even surprised. They were never home anymore, always off doing something or another. She pretty much had to fend for herself.

Hearing Quinn move, shook her out of her reverie and she found the cheerleader silently watching her. She quickly wiped her eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly, searching the brunette's trembling face.

She wasn't, but Quinn didn't care. Not really. She just wanted to be able to tell herself that she did a good deed, helping poor pathetic Rachel get home because she was crying about how much of a loser she was.

Not knowing how to answer without tearing up again. She simply nodded.

Quinn sighed and turned in her chair to face the upset girl.

"Why do you even care what they think?"

Rachel tugged at her sleeve and shrugged.

"Because I want them to like me, everybody wants to be liked Quinn. I thought, joining Glee would be different, that people would actually want to be my friend. That maybe if they saw how talented I was, they would think twice about slushying me in the hallways or whispering about me in the lunchrooms. Guess I was wrong."

Quinn rubbed her neck awkwardly. Why did she drive Rachel home?

"You don't need other people to tell you how talented you are."

Rachel strung her hands together, wishing she was up in her room listening to music. It always helped cheer her up when she had a bad day. Looking out the window she spoke so low that Quinn had to strain to catch it.

"I know, but it's nice to hear it from somebody other than my Dads sometimes."

Quinn cringed inwardly, why was everybody so horrible to Rachel. The girl was obviously just trying to make some friends and be helpful, so she was a little over enthusiastic sometimes, that doesn't mean that she deserved this. Taking a deep breath, the cheerleader turned to face her again.

"You are the most talented person I know. When you sing, I get goose bumps."

Rachel turned and locked eyes with Quinn who ploughed on, seeing the spark beginning to flicker behind those deep brown eyes.

"Whenever you're performing, I can just feel it. Feel everything you put into your performance. It's kind of amazing. The energy and heart you have …it's just incredible to me."

The brunette was smiling now, her eyes shimmering with emotion and her cheeks turning a light shade of pink at the unexpected compliments.

Quinn congratulated herself on cheering the girl up. It felt good to be nice to her for a change.

"And just for the record, everyone in Glee club feels the same way."

Rachel frowned disbelievingly and Quinn nodded.

"I'm serious. All those insults are just defence mechanisms, their jealous Rachel. Don't let them get you down. You're much too strong for that."

Rachel simply nodded, too overcome with gratefulness that she was rendered speechless.

Quinn's icy façade slipped momentarily and she offered the smiling girl a small grin, opening the door beside her.

The brunette grabbed her hand and she turned back.

"T-thank you Quinn, for the compliment."

The blonde's smile grew wider and she winked.

"And I'm not even your Dad Berry."

And with that, she was gone.


	2. Dream

**Authors note: You wanted another chapter, so you got another chapter Please enjoy. I love all your reviews, keep them coming!**

**XX**

Rachel's eyes slowly fluttered open and she sighed heavily. Hesitantly easing into consciousness, she rolled over and frowned at her Funny Girl poster, which was hanging proudly on her bright pink wall. She had, had the strangest dream last night. Quinn Fabray had actually complimented her, and not only that, she had driven her home. Slowly getting to her feet, she quietly padded across the fluffy carpet floor and peered out of her window.

Hmm, that's funny. She couldn't even remember driving home yesterday, let alone parking ten metres away from where she usually did. Unless of course …but no. No, she must have been on auto-pilot, or maybe somebody spiked her. Either explanation would make more sense, than Quinn bringing her home. It was just ridiculous. Deciding that what she really needed was a strong cup of coffee to wake her up, Rachel quickly showered and dressed, applied a light touch of makeup and on her way out, made sure to strip her pillowcase and toss it in her wash pile by the door. Something she did more out of habit than anything else. She was tired of always seeing black smudges on her pillows when she woke up. She was tired of her father's pitying, yet half-hearted glances when they discovered that she had cried herself to sleep yet again. But most of all, she was just tired.

She was tired of having to try so hard, of having no friends, of giving and receiving nothing in return. Rachel wasn't stupid, she knew she wasn't the easiest person to get along with, but she thought the Glee club of all people would understand. She always gave her all, in every performance, yet she was met with criticism and whining. Whether it was Mr Schue giving somebody a completely inappropriate solo, even though she had been working on it for months, or Mercedes yelling that it was her turn to shine, even though she would rather go shopping with Kurt than actually practice her ballad. Was it such a bad thing if she had the spotlight for once in her life? After all, what else did she have?

She just wanted to be taken care of, to have an ally. For somebody to hold her in their arms and just be content, no hidden agenda, no plans to use it as a stepping stone to sex. Which Finn and Puck had attempted on more than one occasion. They were never happy to just be with her, she always felt as if she needed to give them something in order to deserve their attention.

Reaching the kitchen, she had a quick breakfast and made her way to the front door, grabbing her backpack as she went. Swinging the heavy door shut behind her, Rachel slowly made her way towards the car, pausing at the door in order to locate her keys, which were buried deep inside her coat pocket. Eventually locating them, she unlocked the car and got in. On her way, her mind continuously drifted back to her "dream". It had felt so real. But Rachel knew Quinn and the girl was every inch the cliché that Kurt was. The blonde, bitchy head cheerleader, who loathed people like Rachel on sight because, that's just the way it was. It simply wasn't in her nature to be all nice and fluffy and …

Flowery. She had come to a stop at a red light, when the intoxicating fragrance had hovered towards her. Swirling everywhere so that she almost couldn't breathe, she could almost feel it circling her head. Her heart picked and she struggled to control her breathing as realization hit her like a brick wall. They may have had their differences, but Rachel had never hated Quinn. On the contrary, the brunette was sort of mildly fascinated by the girl. Her intelligence, her beauty, her voice. And when Rachel Berry was intrigued by someone, she paid attention to them. Not stalking or anything like that, she simply studied them more than she normally would. It was one of her favourite pastimes, watching people.

And watched she did. She watched their habits, their little quirks, what perfume they happened to wear.

If Rachel wasn't very much mistaken, which let's face it she rarely was, then that was none other than Quinn Fabray's perfume.

And that meant …

A car honked somewhere behind her, but Rachel barely heard it. Staring incredulously at the passenger seat, her hand tightened on the steering wheel.

"It wasn't a dream."


	3. Don't run away

**Authors note: I seem to have no idea where this story is going, but I do enjoy writing it. Hope you enjoy reading. Review please **

**Ps: If you have not already, please buy the Faberry mash up of I feel Pretty/Unpretty on ITunes, we want to be number one!**

**XX**

Rachel stared unseeingly at the huge building before her. She had been sitting in the school car park for close to ten minutes now and she still couldn't decide what to do. She felt like she had just been told that Barbara Streisand was getting a nose job, her whole belief system had collapsed and nothing was making much sense to her anymore. When Quinn was a bitch, it upset Rachel, it upset her but she could deal with that version of Quinn, she had become accustomed to shrugging off the insults and taunts. Now with this new and apparently friendly Quinn, she didn't know how to approach it. Should she thank her for being so kind? Ignore her completely? Make a slideshow presentation of why they should now be best friends due to their newfound ability to communicate without insults peppering every second word?

She wasn't so sure. And when Rachel Berry wasn't sure, well …it had never actually happened to her before. She always knew what she wanted. Between songs, Glee club and boys and yes on some level she had always wanted to be friendly with Quinn. But now that it had become a possibility, she had never felt more terrified of something in her entire life. And not because Quinn was some perfect, popular cheerleader that could destroy her reputation in minutes, no. She was scared because Quinn was the only one to see her breakdown and cry, the only one she had left her walls down for. The cheerleaders compliment had really meant something to Rachel, and without really knowing how it happened, Quinn was inside.

Quickly coming to a decision, she hopped out of the car and locker it, quickly making her way to the entrance. Once inside, she scanned the hallway warily, and gave a sigh of relief when the familiar blonde hair didn't register. Approaching her locker more confidently now, the brunette dialled the familiar code and yanked it open, hurriedly stashing her books inside and grabbing a notebook. She glanced in the small mirror fixed to her locker and frowned, raising a hand she smoothened her fringe until it lay flat against her forehead. Pleased, she closed the locker and gasped. Quinn was standing a few feet away at her own locker, seemingly oblivious to Rachel's reaction.

_I should I go talk to her._

Rachel took a hesitant step forward.

_But what if she just wants to forget what happened yesterday?_

Her foot froze in mid-air and she started to sweat.

_But she was really nice to me. Maybe we can be friends._

Clenching her palms together she took another small step closer to the other girl who was carefully applying makeup.

_She was only nice to you because she wants to win Regionals, she said so herself. Look, she gave you a nice compliment and drove you home, what more do you want? Cut your losses, she doesn't want to be your friend._

Rachel's face crumpled in sadness as this realization dawned on her and she exhaled deeply. Of course Quinn didn't want to be her friend. What was she thinking?

The girl in question suddenly closed her locker and turned around, spotting Rachel she quirked an eyebrow, then dropped it. Her expression became concerned and moved closer. She raised a hand and slowly waved it in front of Rachel's face.

"Earth to Berry, anybody home?" she asked jokingly.

Before she had time to think about what she was doing, the brunette abruptly spun on her heel and marched down the hall, disappearing from view.

Turning the nearest corner she leaned heavily against the wall and caught her breath.

She was such a loser sometimes.

**XX**

Quinn stared at the empty spot where Rachel had stood moments before, her arm was still outstretched and she hastily dropped it, scanning the area to make sure nobody saw her momentary loss of sanity. What the hell had she been thinking talking to Berry? Yesterday was meant to be a one- time thing, she wasn't suddenly going to become Rachel's best friend and hang out watching musicals and wearing argyle. Everything was the same as it had always been, she was on top and Rachel was on bottom. Of the social pyramid that is.

Who cares if the other girl seemed lonely? That was not her problem. She felt bad for Rachel and everything but she had a reputation to protect, if Miss Sylvester caught her even breathing the same air as Rachel she would have to run fifty suicides. And she really wasn't in the mood for puking today.

_At least nobody saw that little exchange._

She mused, as she made her way down the hall towards her English class. As long as she avoided Berry like she'd always done, everything would be fine. Not that Rachel seemed to want to speak to her that is. She wondered what the hell her problem was, she was the most popular girl in school, why did Berry run away from her as if she had a disease or something.

Quinn slowly took her seat the memory of Rachel fleeing from her was stuck on repeat in her head. Try as she might she couldn't think of any reason that Rachel would run from her like that. Seriously she even sniffed herself, she didn't smell. She hadn't even insulted the girl for crying out loud.

Abruptly, Quinn was furious. She was been pleasant to Rachel yesterday, hell she had been damn right nice and Berry just snubs her? She doesn't get to do that, nobody snubs Quinn Fabray and gets away with it. She was going to find out what the hell Rachel's problem was.

The bell rang and Quinn walked the short distance to the choir room with a slight bounce in her step. She loved Glee it was literally the best part of her day. Not that she let anybody know that of course. She took her usual seat beside Santana who was busy whispering something Spanish into a giggling Brittany's ear, something dirty no doubt, and fixed her eyes on the door. Rachel would be here any minute and she wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to grill her on her Houdini routine from earlier.

Her leg jiggled impatiently as the other Glee members made their way into the room one by one. First Mercedes and Kurt who were arguing about whether or not Justin Bieber was in fact a women, then Tina who was rolling Artie and exchanging playful jibes, even Finn and Puck were here, scratching their heads about why nobody wanted to join their all male fight club. Quinn was just about to snap when Mr Schue entered, his trademark smirk in place.

"Hey guys!"

"Hey Mr Schue" the group chorused sleepily.

"I have got some great stuff planned for today! I was thinking that we could do a mash-up of-"

_Has nobody noticed that Rachel is missing? _

"…And then we could hold auditions for the big solo, I really think that-"

_Seriously know one? _

"…Would encourage you all to become more creative when it comes to the big number like-"

_Somebody ask where she is!_

"…And I …yes Santana?"

"Where is man hands today? I mean, I'm only wondering because I haven't thought about cutting her for a while now."

The teacher frowned and scanned the classroom.

"Huh, I didn't even notice she was missing."

_Typical_

"Does anybody want to go and look for her?"

Quinn silently scanned the room, nobody put their hand up.

_She is the only reason we win anything, you ungrateful bunch of-_

"Come on guys. Something might have happened to her."

Quinn raised her hand.

"I'll go."

The entire Glee club immediately gawped at her, including Mr Schue.

She shifted uncomfortably under their intense scrutiny, setting a scowl in place she stood up and glared at them.

"What? I need to pee too alright?"

Looks of comprehension dawned on their faces and they relaxed again, mystery solved. Of course Quinn would never volunteer to look for Rachel.

She quickly left the room and shut the door, breathing heavily she made her way through the school, peering into each class as she went. Eventually she heard a noise coming from the girls' bathroom and she crept closer. Slowly pushing the door open she frowned at the sight. Stepping inside completely, she allowed the door to fall shut behind her and coughed.

Rachel jumped and water flew everywhere.

"What are you doing?"

Rachel's eyes immediately darted to the door and then back again.

"I got slushied I'm just trying to get it out of my hair. You can go back and tell Mr Schue that I'll be right there."

She bent over the sink once again and sent another spray of water flying everywhere.

Quinn didn't move. She watched as Rachel drowned the floor and crouched awkwardly in order to wash her hair. Sighing resignedly, she moved further into the room and placed a hand on Rachel's shoulder, pulling her into a standing position. The smaller girl stared at her confused and Quinn simply shook her head, pulling a nearby chair to the sink she eyed Rachel meaningfully.

"What?"

"Sit down."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

The brunette slowly took a seat and Quinn gently guided her head back until it rested comfortably in the sink behind her. Pulling her hair into one big pile, she dumped the wavy locks into the sink and grabbed the shampoo bottle, before gently massaging it into her hair.

Rachel couldn't move, couldn't speak. She wasn't even sure whether or not she was breathing at this point. After a few minutes she relaxed and allowed herself to enjoy the sensation that someone was taking care of her, she sighed and closed her eyes, wanting to remember this.

Quinn rinsed the last of her hair and stood back, grabbing a fistful of tissues to wipe her hands on and tossing it in the nearby bin. Rachel slowly opened her eyes and met Quinn's gaze. It was silent for a beat and then Rachel stood.

"T-thank you Quinn, for …you know."

Quinn nodded her head and Rachel took a step towards her.

"I should, you know go." She muttered, looking everywhere but at Rachel and retreating further against the wall.

Rachel stopped mid-step and jerked her head, her gaze falling to the floor.

"Oh, o-okay."

Quinn looked up to find Rachel with her back to her, her fingers running through the wet locks, trying to smoothen it the best she could. The blonde turned quietly and walked to the door, her heart thumping with every step.

_Ask her. _

She froze her hand on the door handle.

"Why did you run?"

She could feel Rachel's eyes on her but she didn't turn.

"W-what?"

Quinn finally turned to face her, her leg scuffing the ground unconsciously.

"In the hallway, you ran away from me …"

She watched as Rachel's face cringed with guilt.

Her gaze hit the floor and she took a deep breath.

"I just wanted to talk to you."

She both heard and felt Rachel's quick intake of breath at her confession and she suddenly wished she could take it back. When did she get so soft all of a sudden? She was hanging around with Brittany too much, that girl was all puppies and sunshine.

She was just about to flee the bathroom in embarrassment when she felt Rachel approach her.

"I'm sorry Quinn. I just, didn't think you wanted to be seen with me, that's all."

_God, I'm not that bad, am I? Do I really make her feel like dirt on the end of my shoe?_

"Why not?"

Rachel actually scoffed.

"Oh come on, your miss popular head cheerleader and let's face it I'm barely a blip on the radar. The only attention I get comes from a four-eyed ginger, who thinks its okay to try and stick his camera on a tree outside my bedroom window."

Quinn laughed and Rachel smiled slightly, taking a step closer.

"Seriously though, I was really glad that you drove me home yesterday, I probably would have crashed into a tree or something. It wasn't one of my best days; I shouldn't have broken down like that."

"You don't need to hold everything in you know." murmured Quinn gently.

Rachel smiled slightly before taking a seat and sighing.

"Quinn, the real reason I ran away from you today was because I didn't want you to take back everything you said. It may not have meant much to you but, things like that don't really happen for me, ever, and it felt nice to have a fri-" she cleared her throat, flushing slightly, "…um to have someone there to be nice to me."

"You can say it you know."

"What?"

"Friend."

Rachel blushed and looked away, Quinn thought it was adorable.

"I wouldn't mind being your friend."

Her head snapped up so fast that Quinn nearly got whiplash just from looking at it.

"Y-you want to be my friend?"

"Well that depends, are you going to keep running away from me every time I start a conversation with you?" she smiled.

"Only if you're dissing Barbara"

Quinn giggled and Rachel followed suit, pretty soon they were bent over double in laughter.

Rachel gasped and tried to quell the fit of laughter she had just had.

"Maybe we should get back to Glee, they're probably wondering where we are."

Quinn made her way to the door and held it open expectantly, still chuckling slightly.

"You go ahead, I just have to clean up in here a bit." called the brunette smiling.

"Okay but don't be too long Berry, they might think that I've killed you or something." She replied as the door swung shut behind her.

Rachel smiled softly at her reflection, a single tear escaping down her cheek and landing with a soft patter in the sink.

"I think you've saved me."


End file.
